Californian Dreams
by SharinganSora
Summary: After 3 spending years trying to forget about Sasuke, Naruto is now age 19 and starting college but inevitably, they are forced to face each other once again. But Sasuke has some secrets of his own...will he chose to let then destroy the bond between them? Or will Naruto find out on his own? [lemon and lime cocktail included] SASUNARU, EDITING IN PROCESS! READ MY PROFILE
1. Prologue

**Californian Dreams**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto...wait let me re-think that...nope still don't own Naruto

**Warnings:** For those of you who didn't bother to read my bio...*holds up neon flashing sign* THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, GAY SEX AND BLAH BLAH BLAH

**Pairings: **SasuNaruSasu, and more will be added later

**-Dedicated to my awesome friend Kimberley-**

* * *

**Prologue**

Moonlight washed over the streets as the daylight continued to fade around him. The streetlights kicked on automatically, leaving dark shadows to blossom at the edge of the buildings.

A dark figure was leaning up against a street light, which cast a slight glow downward, leaving half of his face revealed while the other half was hidden by the darkness. He looked surprised to see him.

"Naruto, what are-"

"Where have you been Sasuke?" The blond cut him off. "Since that day in your room? That kiss was real, right?"

Sasuke remained silent, and Naruto took a step closer. He could see his breath as it mixed in with the cool night air.

Sasuke took a step back and Naruto matched it. Suddenly wanting the confrontation as the anger welled up inside of him. "The _least_ you can do is give me the dignity of an answer, Sasuke!" his voice echoed through the streets and he made no attempt to hide his anger.

"I don't know, Naruto." Sasuke said quietly. "I…" He didn't finish.

He ran a hand softly through his hair. A gesture so familiar it was almost heartbreaking.

Naruto couldn't look at him. "Don't I mean anything to you? Have you ever thought about me as more than a friend?"

He stepped closer, placing himself in a pocket of light so that he could see the other clearly. He met his gaze.

"I can't do it, Naruto. Sometimes, when I think that I finally have something in my life…And I wait to see when all of it…_you_…will be taken away from me." Sasuke eyes were seared with grief, sadness raging within the twin black orbs. There was regret there, too.

Naruto wanted to ask what part of this he regretted the most. Was it the part where they met?

Instead he gave an exaggerated laugh, "Me? I don't believe you," He spat. "What is this, some fucking love story?" Naruto knew it wasn't Sasuke he was angry at, but at himself. H_ow did we get to this point?_ _How could we even think about having some sort of future together?_

Pity stirred inside of the blond, but he choked it down.

Sasuke looked out, over at the road next to them, watching the relentless river of cars flowing past.

Naruto dragged his gaze away, and tears threatened at the corner of his eyes as he fought to regain his composure. "That time at your house…were you-" His voice cracked on the last word and he paused, swallowing, before he continued. "Were you going to tell me that you... love me?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke, waiting for a reaction.

Sasuke shook his head, and pain filled his eyes.

When he spoke, his voice was cold and full of agony. "_Love_? Of course I don't love you, Naruto." His voice caught in his throat. "I don't know what this feeling is but it's not love…_It_ _can't be_."

His words didn't make any sense, and Naruto backed away from him. Nothing made sense anymore. Was he the only sane person left in this world?

Snow began to fall in soft feathery flakes around them, melting as soon as they touched the ground, but neither of them seemed to notice.

Tears filled Naruto's eyes and he breathed in, fighting not to let them fall before turning to look at Sasuke again.

"But I…I love you," Naruto said brokenly. He smiled sadly at him through his tears, glad that he couldn't see Sasuke's face through the haze of them.

_It didn't have to end like this, Sasuke. But I guess that's just the way it is._

Naruto turned his back to him and walked back up the street once more.

* * *

**EDITED. My eyes are on fire. **

**Hey, don't judge a story by it's first chapter is what they say.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Californian dreams**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...wait let me re-think that...nope still don't own Naruto and I don't own the quotes either**

**Warnings:** For those of you who didn't bother to read my bio...*holds up neon flashing sign* THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, GAY SEX AND BLAH BLAH BLAH

**Pairings: **SasuNaru, KibaHina, ShikaIno, NejiTenten

**The first part of the chapter is in first person otherwise it wouldn't really work, so no it's not a mistake.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_**"All I know since yesterday is everything has changed"- Taylor Swift**_

_A full moon floated in a cloudless sky, reflected off the soft white flakes that drifted down from the sky, as bright as day. But beneath the trees, dark shadows blossomed like ink blots. The trees gave way to a strip of rough grass that was covered in a thick layer of snow; beyond it water stretched out almost as far as we could see, its frozen surface silvered by the moonlight. Together we sat on the edge of the lake, alone. _

_I turned to my brother beside me, watching as he stood up and sighed. We walked down to where the water met the shore, ahead of us the lake glittered, cold and unmoving. Wind swept across the wide expanse of frozen water, buffeting my short blond hair and his raven locks. I caught memories of when we had played here and I turned to face him. There was so much I wanted to say, yet no sounds came out of my throat. _

_His light grey eyes met mine and the brother by my side melted away. _

* * *

Naruto smashed his fist down, attempting to work out where his beeping alarm clock was from the sound of its insistent ringing.

_Stupid alarm clock_.

Sitting up, he reached forwards and threw it across the room, hearing it land with a satisfying '_thud_' in a pile of laundry, which finally shut it up. Staring up at the ceiling he yawned. It was his first day at college today and he had only moved into his new apartment a couple of days ago. That meant that everyone else had already started their first semester about 3 weeks ago. It felt strange to be back in America and the fact that he'd see everything he'd left behind. He wasn't ready yet.

Dragging a lazy blue gaze across the room, which was filled with unpacked suitcases strewn across the floor- which wasn't visible at this very moment, Naruto groaned and began to shuffle towards the bathroom.

_Stupid Mondays. _

Approximately 10 minutes later Naruto stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair as a cloud of steam escaped behind him. He glanced in the mirror at his tanned reflection and ran a hand through the semi-dry golden locks. Smirking, he moved to search for some clean clothes.

Seeing as most of his clothes were still unpacked. He walked over to his bed, discarding the towel on his way. Digging through the pile of clothing on his bed, he picked out a crumpled up white grunge vest, orange zip-up hoodie and pulled on some loose fitting grey jeans. On his way out he grabbed a cereal bar and snagged his keys, hastily shoving them into his messenger bag.

_This school year is going to suck_.

As Naruto pushed his way through the clear glass doors, chewing on his cereal bar, he could have _sworn_ he caught a glimpse of someone with raven colored hair. Heart pounding, he stared dumbly at the spot where that person had stood only seconds ago. _Am I going crazy? Get a grip, Uzumaki. It was three years ago-_

Abruptly someone crashed into him which caused him to choke on the remainder of the cereal bar that was in his mouth. _I'm gonna kill whoever that asshole is. _

After the blond had regained his composure and taken several gulps of air, he turned to glare at the brunet who was now picking his books up off the floor. But seconds later Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment as he stared at the brunet who had started grumbling under his breath.

"Kiba…?!"

Kiba looked up and grinned "Fancy seeing you here, Naruto" he said as he gave him a harder-than-intended punch on the shoulder as he snickered, "You still _the_ chick magnet? Or have you lost your charm after all these years?"

Naruto rubbed his shoulder "Pfft, I don't like girls Kiba; I thought you would at least remember that." The blond smiled and looked thoughtful for a second, "but then again you haven't changed much, dog breath."

"What?! Are you joking? Everyone is just itching to own this!" Kiba said, striking an embarrassing pose.

"Right…" Naruto commented dryly, wondering why he was friends with this moron. They'd known each other since primary and had least one argument a day about anything they could think of.

"H-hey! All because you think your so-" Kiba was cut off as Naruto yanked him roughly by the arm and started sprinting down the main hallway.

"We're gonna be late for first period, Inuzuka!" Yelled Naruto, as he started running down the nearly empty hallway, his sneakers squeaking loudly on the recently polished floors.

"You will be stuck with me for the rest of this semester, so before you even_ think_ about annoying me in any way, I would put your grade first- but it's not like I'm implying anything." A rather bored sounding voice continued as Kiba and Naruto neared the lecture hall's doors which were labeled '_Mr. Hatake'. _

Several heads turned to stare as the two boys sauntered in, not bothered by the fact that they were fifteen minutes late. The silver hair-man, who had a mask covering half his face- but it somehow suited him, shifted his feet off the desk, which he had been resting them on and glanced briefly down and a sheet of paper on his desk.

"You," The man pointed at the blond, "And Inuzuka, can take the two seats at the back," He nodded vaguely in the direction of the back of the dimly lit lecture hall and turned back round to face a PowerPoint which had now flickered up onto a large modern looking screen at the front of the room, resuming his previous position.

Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering how on earth this man could have got the job and grinned, "By the way Mr. Hatake, my name's Naruto Uzumaki!" He called over his shoulder as he followed the brunet up to the back row. This caused most people to turn round and glance at the rambunctious blond whilst raising an eyebrow.

The morning dragged on, and while everyone else around Naruto was taking notes, he was busy wondering how far a catapult could shoot a paper ball. It was rather amusing hitting unsuspecting people in the back of the head and watching them blame their friends. He watched a brunette giving her friend a look which saying I-will-promise-you-the-most-slow-and-painful-death -ever. Naruto struggled not to think about how he used to annoy Sasuke like that all the time in high school. Smiling, he could still remember the famous-Uchiha-death-glare that Sasuke would give him and in the end it would result in one of them with a bloody nose or a black eye.

"_Stop." A voice with a hint of irritation laced through it commanded. _

_Naruto snickered into the back of his hand, preparing another balled up piece of paper. Moving his hand away from his face, he carefully wedged his catapult- made out of a pen, pencil and elastic band, between his fingers to secure it. Aiming it to his left, in the direction of a fuming raven, the blond pulled the paper ball back and watched as it hit Sasuke on his ear. Not a bad shot._

_The Uchiha's gaze flicked to the side for a spilt second and a growl rumbled in his throat. Couldn't the idiot just leave him alone? _

"_What's with the constipated look, Uchiha?" Naruto shot another piece of paper in his direction._

_Apparently not. _

_Naruto was silently laughing his ass off in his head when a calculator hit him full force in the side of the face, the impact left him momentarily dizzy and he could feel the side of his face throbbing in time with his pulse. "What…What the hell was that for, bastard!?" _

"_Leave me alone." _

_Snatching up the thing closest to him on his desk, which happened to be a math set in a metal case, Naruto flung it at the raven, who leant back and watched as the metal container collided with the wall next to him._

_The teacher was yelling at Naruto to get back in his seat but Naruto wasn't going to be satisfied until he ruined the perfect stoic expression Sasuke was looking at him with. _

"_A friggen calculator!? I'm gonna make sure you regret that!" _

"_You obviously didn't understand the meaning or 'stop', what-" Sasuke stopped mid-sentence as he caught the fist that was flying his way and dug his knee into Naruto's stomach. The idiot was really asking for it. _

_Naruto ignored the pain that shot through his abdomen and jerked Sasuke up against the wall, pulling his fist back but Sasuke hooked Naruto's leg out from under him and pushed him backwards. _

_The force sent the blond into a desk but he managed to catch himself before he flattened anyone who was behind him. Damn that bastard to hell for taking karate classes. Naruto barely registered someone coming up from his right before his arm was twisted behind his back and his jaw met the floor with a crack. He could feel a weight on his back before the raven released his arm and stood up. _

"_I don't think I regret anything, idiot."_

The blond was jolted out of his thoughts as a pencil whizzed past his head (it was pretty damn sharp as well) and landed in the wall beside him, which was dangerously close to his ear. He looked up and found himself face to face with Mr. Hatake who seemed to be smiling oddly enough.

**Naruto**: _Can I help you with anything? Or am I just so interesting you just can't keep away?_

**Kakashi**: _Is there any particular reason you're smiling, Uzumaki? Or is it because of the fact that you haven't written a thing?_

**Naruto**: _It's my new style- minimalism- it's pretty popular right now._

**Kakashi**: _Well if your work continues to be in its 'minimalistic' style, you will soon end up with what is commonly referred to as a 'detention'- which is also very in vogue. _

* * *

Naruto scowled up at the smiling silver haired man who just pulled the pencil out of the wall and returned to the place behind his desk.

The sun was casting long shadows as it set in a fiery blaze, a light playful breeze caused the tops of the trees to sway gently, it was a welcome break from the haze of the sun. Naruto hitched his bag up over his shoulder again as he rounded a corner, not in the best of moods as a certain silver-haired man had kept him behind to copy out some notes. It had taken well over two hours due to the fact that Naruto had refused to cooperate with his demands.

Turning another corner, Naruto's paced slowed down as he neared a familiar sign which read 'Konohagakure Park'. An all too familiar sign. He'd spent a large amount of his free time here as a child and it only used to be a 10 minute walk from his house. This wasn't a place that he'd particularly wanted to see again as the blond would have preferred to forget most of his childhood. Looking around he realized that not much had changed since he left, the red and yellow monkey bars were still there and the swing set was still intact next to it. A small row of plank-wood bleachers sat on the edge of a basketball court that was surrounded by a high wire mesh fence that Naruto had spent a good few days trying to scale in elementary. Making his way over to the swing set, Naruto could still make out a mishmash of carved initials, resembling a _NU_ that he had made with his friends when they were 10, one of the freshmen had let them borrow his pocket knife so they could all scratch their names on.

A soft _thump_ followed by a _swish_ caught Naruto's attention as he walked towards the edge of the basketball court. Half the court was engulfed in shadow as the sun continued to sink, taking the heat of the day with it. He could make out a silhouette standing beneath the hoop, with his back to him. _Who would play basketball at 7 in the evening? _ _Alone_? The figure continued to shoot the ball with deadly aim at the hoop without any hesitation in their stride. _They must be on the school team or something._ Naruto watched with quiet fascination as the figure maneuvered the ball skillfully, unaware that the blond was there.

Suddenly a loud _thud_ caught Naruto's attention and the sound of dribbling abruptly halted. Naruto blinked and took a few seconds to realize that his school bag had fallen to the ground. His head flicked back up as the sound of footsteps on asphalt echoed around the deserted park. As the figure neared him, the blond could make out that the boy was wearing a faded All Star hoodie which matched his dark hair and shorts.

Yanking his bag off the ground and throwing the strap over his shoulder, Naruto hastily turned around and started making a bee-line for the park entrance. He _did not_ want to be caught staring at some stranger like a complete freak. That would just be the cherry on the cake to make his Monday worse than it already was and he wasn't keen to deal with someone chasing after him. Without glancing back, Naruto once again turned back onto the sidewalk, continuing towards his apartment.

The boy stopped at the fence, holding the basketball under his arm. His expression was blank as he watched the blond walk away from him.

* * *

**I've got about 7 different versions on this on my computer and just ignore everything you've read before, 'kay? **

**I've re-written chapter 3 and after a bit more procrastinating I will probably rewrite chapter 2 **

**Adios! **

**Guess who the person was at the beginning of the chapter?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Californian dreams**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own a couple of random manga books at that's it and I don't own the quotes either

**Warnings:** For those of you who didn't bother to read my bio...*holds up neon flashing sign* THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, GAY SEX AND BLAH BLAH BLAH

**Pairings: **SasuNaruSasu, KibaHina, ShikaIno, NejiTenten

* * *

**Chapter 2**

******"_I broke it all and I'm put to the test_  
_Put your hand to mine and feel this emptiness_"-_ Hollywood Undead_**

_Bored blue eyes watched a couple of blackbirds come to rest on a thin tree branch that arched along outside of the classroom window. The first one tipped its head at the blond, as if mocking him, before turning its back to him and taking flight. The others were quick to follow, letting out a chorus of chirps as they swooped towards some distant treetops. _

"…_alphabetically staring from A to Z. When I read out your names, you will change seats and sit with your partner. You will get along because you'll be sitting next to them for the rest of this year!" Anko, their 6__th__ grade science teacher, yelled from the front of the room. _

_Oh fantastic, probably another one of Anko's crazy projects to work on. Naruto ran through the alphabet in his mind and groaned when he realized that none of his friends last names started with a U. _

_Anko continued on, "You'll have 2 months to work on this project and give a presentation on it! This is going to be worth 25% of your end of year grade so make sure you do this properly kids! Right, now listen up…" _

_Naruto stopped listening halfway through, plastering a tired expression on his face. Hopefully he would get someone fun to work with. The classroom was filled with the scraping of chairs as Anko started assigning partners. 'It's going to take her forever to get to my name', thought Naruto, wrinkling his nose. Chairs were still being scraped loudly, so when Anko finally called out his name, he missed who was meant to be his partner. _

_The blond didn't move, hoping that whoever he was meant to work with would move next to him. Because he sure wasn't going to. _

_Casually glancing over his shoulder, Naruto saw a boy sitting at his desk, looking around, and an empty chair next to him. The blond pushed his chair back, getting ready to move his books when all of a sudden someone dropped their books next to him. Naruto looked up, only to be met with a pair of uncaring eyes staring back at him. _

"_What are you doing?" Naruto asked earning a skeptical look. _

"_I'm Uchiha. You're Uzumaki." _

"_Yeah, what about it?" 'What the hell' was probably written all across Naruto's face. _

_The boy raised an eyebrow and scowled. "I'm your partner." _

"_Oh..." The blond said lamely. He recognized the boy who was standing opposite him as Sasuke Uchiha, the prodigy of every class and the type of guy he hated in every single way possible. _

_Said boy was now getting out a notepad and sitting down. "Look, I don't want anything to do with you so just sit there and listen to what I tell you to do. Let me handle this project and stay out of my way." _

_Jerk._

"_Why would I listen to an asshole like you?" Naruto snapped. There was no way he was going to listen to anyone's orders. Like it or not, he would do what he liked._

"_You are the dropout here." Sasuke stated. "Whatever instructions I give, you are going to follow." The Uchiha gave Naruto a cool look, as if daring him to challenge him. _

_Naruto narrowed his eyes as he sat down, meeting the raven's gaze. "All because I'm not a suck-up like you, doesn't mean that I'm going to hide in your shadow and clean your shoes for you. I don't agree." _

"_I'm an Uchiha. I will lead; I couldn't care less about what you think of it." _

_Typical. Naruto gritted his teeth, the high and mighty Uchiha Clan using their name and flaunting it. "We're working together. Or have you forgotten the meaning of 'teamwork'?" He spat. _

_Sasuke's glare turned to steel. "I haven't forgotten anything." _

_The fact that they were both currently meant to be working on a project was long forgotten as Naruto fixed the Uchiha with a look of undisguised hate. _

_The sharp click of heels stopping by their desk made both of the boys focus their attention on a figure with an air of annoyance around her. Anko uncrossed her arms and slammed her palm on the edge of the desk. "Uchiha, Uzumaki, I don't tolerate any arguments in my class, if you have a problem with each other, sort it out, get over it, and get the work done. Or do you need some extra time after school in the form of a detention to sort out your differences?" _

_Sasuke turned his head away, giving no sign he had heard her and Naruto gave a weak smile, "No we're okay."_

_ Liar, liar, pants on fire. _

"_Good. Now get on with it." Easier said than done._

_Looking to his left at the raven who was scribbling something down in his notepad, Naruto sighed and pulled out a pen. Looked like he would have to be the one to remind the Uchiha of what the word 'teamwork' meant._

* * *

The sunlight was quickly fading around the lone silhouette that stood in the middle of the basketball court. The breeze whipped around him, scattering scraps of leaf into the pink and blue streaked sky. He bounced the basketball twice and narrowed his eyes to judge how far the hoop was.  
Backing up a step, he jogged up to the hoop, keeping the ball in front of him moving. He kept he eyes on the backboard, not letting his concentration waver from his target as he quickened his pace and hooked the ball over his head, launching it into the awaiting net.

"Nice shot."

The raven spun around as a voice sounded behind him. A boy who looked about the same age as himself stood a couple of meters away. His dark bangs cast framed his face and his ashen eyes gleamed. He wore a charcoal colored jacket, laced with crimson straps and studded with metal and his toned abdomen showed through the zips of his leather jacket. As the boy lifted his head slightly, he could make out faint scars on both cheeks.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke didn't move, waiting for his question to be answered.

"Quite the attitude there. But, I guess you could call me…A friend, of sorts." The boy replied, unfazed.

"What the do you want?"

The latter let a feral smile grace his lips. "Impatient much? …But then again, I've never been the one for patience myself."

Sasuke's face remained blank, he wasn't in the mood to talk, if this guy wanted to play games, he would have to find someone else.

"I have a preposition for you, Sasuke." The boy walked towards to raven, his steps never missing a beat. "I can assume you have heard of 'Akatsuki' from that... little stunt your brother pulled a couple of years ago."

Sasuke growled. "Get on with it." He was wasting his time here.

"We want you to join our organization, after all, you are still looking for Itachi's whereabouts, no?"

"He is of no concern to me now."

The boy shook his head and shrugged_, _"I see that attitude for yours runs in the blood, but I am willing to help you achieve your goals."

The raven's gaze hardened, he didn't like to get involved in gangs or organizations. "I'm not interested." Sasuke turned to walk towards the far side of the court.

"You want power, right?"

Sasuke stopped abruptly. "What do you mean?"

"I can give you that, Sasuke. All I need is for you to agree."

"I don't want anything you have to offer."

"You can't be too sure."

"I'm not interested."

"...You would be doing what your parents would have wanted."

"Keep my parents out of this," Sasuke snarled, barely keeping his voice from shouting.

"Touchy. We're more similar than you think, that's why I want to help you, Sasuke." The boy kept his gaze on the Uchiha. "My parents weren't so different from yours." When the latter didn't reply, he continued. "I was always an echo of my brother which people didn't bother to listen to."

"What was his name?" Sasuke's face had become devoid of any emotion once more. _Who is this kid? Is he just some ordinary school boy joking around?_ He knew that wasn't true, Sasuke couldsense that the person stood oppostie him was a dangerous opponent. He spoke without any doubt or hesitation, a voice that demanded obedience. _This guy..._

The boy paused, as if he was mulling over the thought. "I haven't seen him for a while now." He tilted his head casually, "Do you miss your brother?"

_Brother? What part?_ Sasuke sneered inwardly, "No." He turned away, wanting the conversation to end.

"Don't you want to know my name?"

The raven paused, and fixed the boy with his gaze.

"I'm Menma."

Sasuke turned back around, having got his question answered and retrieved his basketball from under the net.

"I expect your answer in three days' time, Sasuke." Menma called, before leaving Sasuke along in the basketball court once more.

* * *

**I intend to finish this story even if you're all like 79 by the time I do...**

**I have a lot of people who won't leave me alone at the moment and a load of drawings I have to finish (deadlines suck!) If there are any grammar mistakes please point them out!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Californian dreams**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nada people

**Warnings:** For those of you who didn't bother to read my bio...*holds up neon flashing sign* THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, GAY SEX AND BLAH BLAH BLAH

**Pairings: **SasuNaruSasu, InoShika, KibaHina

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_**"And suddenly you're all I need **_**  
**_**The reason why I smile" -Avril Lavigne**_

_Naruto hissed as he jerked his head back, the door barely missing his nose by an inch as someone pushed past him. "Geez…Watch it man!" Yanking the door open, Naruto stomped his way into the library that was situated on main street. _

_If you're wondering why he was here, willing, you could blame it on the idea that a certain asshole had suggested since he needed some 'research materials'. Two weeks along with the project and they hadn't gotten anywhere. _

_The blond scanned the area around him as he slowly wandered forwards . Books…More books…Duck butt hair…Oh wait, he'd found Sasuke. Trudging over to the raven, Naruto peered over his shoulder to see what he was reading. 'Stimulus and response' huh? Naruto though, sounds pretty dead. _

_Snapping the book shut, Sasuke slid it back onto the shelf and turned round to face Naruto. "You," he motioned with his head, "Take that pile up to the 3__rd__ floor." _

_Naruto's glaze landed on a neatly stacked pile of books by Sasuke's feet. "What? Why can't you do that?" Pfft, here goes the asshole ordering him to do stuff again. _

"_I'm taking these." Another pile was resting on Sasuke's left. "Or are they too heavy for you, idiot?"_

"_I bet I'm stronger than you anyway, bastard." Naruto hissed, balancing the books on his knee as he shifted his grip on them. "Where do you want this shit?" _

_The Uchiha breathed out slowly through his nose before he replied. "The 3__rd__ floor, were using the spare room to study in."_

"_Oh woopie." Naruto wrinkled his nose as he made his way towards the stairs. _

_After three excruciatingly long flights of stairs, Naruto dumped the pile of books on the desk in the center of the room. They really were heavier than they looked, not that he'd ever admit it. Slumping down into a chair and trying to catch his breath, Naruto took in some posters about astronomy pasted on the pale blue walls, but from those, the walls were blank. _

_A couple of minutes later, Sasuke joined the blond and pulled out a chair opposite him. _

"_So…what genius idea have you got this time?" Naruto finally grumbled after four minutes of watching the Uchiha flick through text books. _

"_Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions__,"_ _Sasuke didn't look up from his book. _

"_What? You can't be serious, what the hell does that mean anyway?" Naruto groaned out loud, trust the asshole to pick another boring idea. "Why can't we do something with explosions and stuff?"_

_Sasuke growled, "Only an idiot like you would want to do 'explosions and stuff'." _

"_It's better than your boring shit!" _

"_At least I've contributed to the project." With that, Sasuke dropped a book in front of Naruto. "Copy the diagrams out of that."_

"_Stop ordering me around, bastard." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms. "You're even worse than usual today." _

_When Sasuke didn't answer, even though Naruto was pretty sure he'd heard him, he rolled his eyes. These two hours better go by fast._

* * *

Tuesday morning came _way_ too quickly and as the college's fancy glass doors came into view, Naruto sighed, debating if he should just skip today's classes or not.

Approximately 2.5 seconds later he spotted a familiar girl with platinum blonde hair trying to flag him down.

"Hey, Naruto! What are you doing here!? I haven't seen you in forever!" Ino skidded to a halt in front of him, her sunglasses dropping down onto her nose. She quickly pushed them up into her hair. Naruto leant to the side slightly and caught sight of a pink-haired girl shaking someone by the collar. _Well…Sakura looks just as scary, no change there. _

"Fancy meeting you and Sakura here," Naruto grinned but that soon changed into a 'what the-' as Ino slapped the blond across the face. Hard.

"That was for disappearing without a word for years." Then Ino smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "And that's for being able to see you again!"

"Ino!" A voice whined. "You say you would wait for- huh? _Naruto_?" Sakura's eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Hi Sakura-chan." He eyed her warily in fear of getting another slap.

"Sakura-_chan_? Am I in Japan?"

Naruto didn't even notice the suffix had slipped out. "Oh right, I travelled abroad in Japan for three years."

"You went to _Japan_!?" Both of the girls shouted, two pairs of widened eyes staring at him.

"Umm…" They had attracted the attention of quite a number of people now, gazing curiously at them as they walked past.

Ino was the first to compose herself. "Did you get to wear a…a- damn what are they called again?" She waved her hand about. "A-a…oh, got it! Kimono, that's it!"

Naruto laughed and shook his head, "No, no, I didn't wear one of those, but they looked pretty cool."

"_Baka_, why didn't you tell us?" Sakura stalked up to him and punctuated each word with a harsh jab at Naruto's chest.

"Baka? You speak Japanese?"

"I took a course back in high school because-"

"_Because _Sasuke was taking it as well." Ino butted in with a sly glance at her friend.

"It was not! It's not like you didn't stalk him or anything." Sakura muttered the last part, crossing her arms.

"At least I didn't go through his-"

"Okay! Okay, Ino-pig I get it! You don't need to remind me!"

Ino laughed triumphantly, oblivious to the steam rising from Sakura's head. "I'll see you at lunch Naruto, English Literature awaits!"

The blond held back a snigger as he watched Sakura mock strangle her friend.

* * *

Naruto had just slammed his locker door shut and preparing to go to lunch until he was ambushed by a certain brunet, who tackled him to the floor.

"Kiba! What was that for!?"

Said person had a shit-eating grin on his face, and continued to smirk as the blond glared at him.

"Nothing," Kiba shrugged, dusting himself off. "Wanna join me for lunch?"

Naruto stared at him.

"What? You want me to buy you flowers or something?"

That earned Kiba a harsh whack on the head as Naruto stomped past him. "Shut up, dog breath."

The two friends continued to bicker as they made their way to the canteen and picked up a tray each.

"You know, the canteen is gonna run out of food at this rate." Naruto glanced at Kiba's tray which was already loaded with more than he could eat and watched the brunet grab three more sandwiches.

"What am I? Some girl on a diet?" Naruto snickered at his response and looked around for somewhere to sit.

Most people had gone back home or to their dorms for lunch so the cafeteria was pretty empty. Naruto had to admit that this college didn't have bad taste when it came to design. He took in the black marble floor, dotted with patches of carpet for tables to rest on and the fancy pfarré lighting design. There was a raised section at the back, which contained single ebony tables, with black, leather seating to match.

Not the mention the dorms which were coated in sleek, mahogany paneling- each apartment also equipped with its own balcony. There was a small glass bridge that connected the two dark modern building parts.

Naruto caught sight of some of his old friends from high school; he recognized Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Tenten and a few others. Making his way other to their table with Kiba behind him, he slid his tray onto the table and grinned. "Hey guys."

After not seeing them for so long, Naruto didn't know what to say as his friends glanced up in surprise.

"Naruto!?" Tenten's jaw dropped open whilst the rest of them just stared in shock. Naruto couldn't blame them really, since it wasn't every day that someone disappears without a word and turns up out of the blue three years later.

"Mind if I sit down?" Naruto asked.

"Go ahead," Shikamaru rested his head on his hands, having gotten over his shock. "Nice to see you're your still alive, Naruto."

"Heh, yup!" _Well, that's a bit morbid._ Naruto grinned and bit into his baguette. "Yeah, it's been a while. Did all of you start lessons yesterday?"

Neji shook his head, his long, dark hair draping over his shoulders. "No, Gaara and I started yesterday." He motioned to a redhead sitting opposite him. Naruto vaguely remembered him being a close friend of Neji's but he had never talked much. He assumed he was the silent lethal-ish type, if that made sense.

"Oh, uhm, hey Gaara!" Naruto grinned at him, not surprised when Gaara only nodded his head in response.

"Hi."

Thankfully, none of his friends questioned him about his long absence. But then again, Ino and Sakura would have told half of the campus already.

At that moment a loud screech sounded from the corridor and said girls appeared, barging roughly through the double doors whilst elbowing each other.

Shikamaru sighed and muttered a "Here we go."

"Get out of my seat you forehead-girl!"

"_Your_ seat? Who died and said this was your seat?"

"Well it's not yours!"

"Tough luck, I'm sitting in it."

"Oh hell no, you're not!"

"You only want to sit next to Shikamaru!"

At the mention of his name, the brunet glanced towards the blonde who was millimeters away from murdering her friend.

"Shut it Sakura! I don't!"

"I guess I'm sitting here then." Sakura smirked at Ino and placed her tray on the table whilst Ino huffed and sat herself down on a chair next to Naruto.

The blond notice that Shikamaru continued to stare at Ino and opened his mouth to say something but the clatter of a tray hitting the floor made everyone snap their heads towards the end of the table.

"Oh," Choji grinned sheepishly. "My bad."

Ino rolled her eyes at her friend, "At least it was empty."

"And it didn't go all over your skirt this time." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ino and abruptly ducked as a juice carton was thrown at her. "Hey, just saying!"

"Well don't."

"And why wouldn't I?"

"I guess you can't stop yourself from making bitchy comments, can you?"

"You're just mad at me because you want this seat."

Neji sighed loudly, "Could you two-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Both the girls shouted and then proceeded to resume their heated glaring match.

Kiba smirked and gave Neji a look which said '_well, you tried_'. But couldn't those two just get along? Of course that was impossible. It was almost a tradition for Sakura and Ino to have an argument over something every lunch whilst the rest of the table would quickly look for an escape or get out their iPods. Option two was crossed off my list as I had no idea where it was.

"Oh wow! Look at the time, it's already this late?" Naruto stood up and stretched hoping to make a relatively quick exit.

"That eager to get to lessons, Naruto?" Neji tipped his head questioningly

_Shut up, shut up, shut up!_

Shoving his chair Naruto glared at the Hyuuga, "Ahh, I have some catching up to do. Professor Hatake doesn't go easy on the homework." Ino's voice was really beginning to grate on his nerves now even if he had been hearing it for the last 15 years. _Please don't say what I think you're going to say._

"I think I'll join you then." Shoot. So much for a quick exit… "Coming, Gaara?"

"…Fine." _Double the fun._

The two girls were still at each other's throats as Naruto, Neji and Gaara exited the cafeteria, leaving Tenten and Kiba who were both on their iPods and Shikamaru, who had conveniently fallen asleep.

* * *

Sasuke dropped his bag on the stone steps leading up to Konoha University; he was about twenty minutes early for his Geography class which started at 6:00pm. There were only a couple of students who were sprawled on the grass in front of the building with their friends, but other than that, most people had chosen to head out to town.

Sasuke tugged the rim of his T-shirt, feeling it sticking to his back with sweat. The fact that the sun was obscured by a smear of clouds made no difference to the scorching heat that emitted from it.

He had yet to give Menma his answer, but he still had two days to think about it. His mind pricked at the memory, where had he met him before? The name Menma was pretty difficult to forget but his face seemed familiar… Sasuke shrugged, he'd had a lot of weird, if you could call them that, encounters at the basketball courts lately.

An image of a silhouette watching him from the fence flashed briefly through his mind. _Was that you, Naruto?_

Even if it was, it was nothing to do with him anymore. Letting his thoughts take over his mind once more, he couldn't ignore the nagging voice at the back of his head that told him nothing good would come out of getting involved with Atasuki. If he agreed to join them, he'd get dragged into unwanted trouble, and for once, he wasn't looking for any. Sasuke had never heard of the name until now, or he didn't remember it, but just what did they want from him? It wasn't surprising if it was just because he was an Uchiha.

He snorted inside his head; Menma was mistaken if he thought he would bend willing to his 'demands'.

Sasuke jerked his head up as a loud voice suddenly cut through the silence that lay over the campus grounds.

"It's easy! Come on Neji, I thought Hyuuga's were meant to know everything!" The raven narrowed his eyes as he made out a blond gesturing wildly with his hands and two people trailing behind him.

"No, do it by yourself."

"Geez, that frigid attitude of yours, what about you, Gaara?"

"I'm fine."

_Shit._

Sasuke slung his bag over his shoulder and turned around to walk into the building before they could see him. The last thing he wanted to do was to stop and chat with his old classmates.

That would just bring back unwanted memories.

* * *

**EDITED**

**Some of my friend's (Kira) comments as I wrote this:**

"**Stimulus and response huh? Naruto thought…"**

**Kira: THAT'S A GREAT EXPERIMENT SASUKE. PLZ**

"**Why can't we do explosions and stuff?" **

**Kira: Yeahh Sasuke, we'll see how much cum can explode from your cock.**

"**But just what did they want from him?..."**

**Kira: Sex? **

"**Menma was mistaken if he thought he would bend willingly to his 'demands'…"**

**Kira: KNEEL BITCH.**

_**I'm not gonna beg for reviews guys...I'm gonna blackmail people for them, oh wait I think that's illegal.**_


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